A receiver includes signal lanes to receive associated data bit streams, and a control module. The signal lanes each include configurable equalization modules to provide a selectable compensation value to the associated data bit stream. The control module performs back channel adaptations on each data bit stream to achieve a target bit error rate for the associated signal lane, determines a most common set of compensation values from the performance of the back channel adaptations, determines whether the compensation value is within a predetermined boundary for that selectable compensation value, and provides an alert when a first compensation value of the most common set of compensation values is not within the predetermined boundary for the first compensation value.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A receiver, comprising: a plurality of signal lanes each to receive a data bit stream, and each signal lane including a plurality of equalization modules each configurable to provide a selectable compensation value to the data bit stream received by an associated signal lane, wherein each selectable compensation value represents an equalization coefficient for the associated equalization module; and a control module configured to: perform on each signal lane a plurality of back channel adaptations on an associated data bit stream to achieve a target bit error rate for the associated signal lane, each back channel adaptation being associated with a set of compensation values of the equalization modules; determine for each signal lane a most common set of compensation values derived from the performance of the back channel adaptations; determine, for each selectable compensation value of the most common set of compensation values, whether or not a particular compensation value is within a predetermined boundary for that selectable compensation value; and provide an indication when the particular compensation value of the most common set of compensation values is not within the predetermined boundary for the particular compensation value.
2. The receiver of claim 1 , wherein the control module is further configured to; determine whether or not the particular compensation value is a universal equalization coefficient for the plurality of signal lanes.
3. The receiver of claim 2 , wherein the control module is further configured to: determine whether or not the particular compensation value is also a compensation value that is specific to a particular one of the signal lanes when the particular compensation value is the universal equalization coefficient for the plurality of signal lanes, wherein the indication indicates that the receiver is failing when the particular compensation value is also the compensation value that is specific to the particular signal lane.
4. The receiver of claim 2 , wherein the control module is further configured to: determine whether or not the particular compensation value is a compensation value that is specific to a particular one of the signal lanes when the particular compensation value is not the universal equalization coefficient for the plurality of signal lanes, wherein the indication indicates that the receiver may fail when the particular compensation value is also the compensation value that is specific to the particular signal lane.
5. The receiver of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of equalization modules for each signal lane includes a Decision Feedback Equalization (DFE) module.
6. The receiver of claim 5 , wherein, when a compensation value for the DFE module is above a predetermined boundary for the DFE module, the control module is further configured to: provide the indication to indicate that a channel associated with the signal lane is experiencing excessive reflections.
7. The receiver of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of equalization modules for each signal lane includes a Continuous Time Linear Equalization (CTLE) module.
8. The receiver of claim 7 , wherein, when a compensation value for the CTLE module is above a predetermined boundary for the CTLE module, the control module is further configured to: provide the indication to indicate that a channel associated with the signal lane is experiencing a loss of signal.
9. A method, comprising: receiving, by a plurality of signal lanes of a receiver, an associated bit stream; equalizing, by a plurality of equalization modules of each signal lane, the associated bit stream; providing, by each equalization module, a selectable compensation value to the bit stream received by an associated signal lane, wherein each selectable compensation value represents an equalization coefficient for the associated equalization module; performing, by a control module of the receiver, on each signal lane a plurality of back channel adaptations on the associated bit stream to achieve a target bit error rate for the associated signal lane, each back channel adaptation being associated with a set of compensation values of the equalization modules; determining, by the control module, for each signal lane a most common set of compensation values derived from the performance of the back channel adaptations; determining, by the control module, for each selectable compensation value of the most common set of compensation values, whether or not a particular compensation value is within a predetermined boundary for that selectable compensation value; and providing, by the control module, an indication when the particular compensation value of the most common set of compensation values is not within the predetermined boundary for the particular compensation value.
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising; determining, by the control module, whether or not the particular compensation value is a universal equalization coefficient for the plurality of signal lanes.
11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising: determining, by the control module, whether or not the particular compensation value is also a compensation value that is specific to a particular one of the signal lanes when the particular compensation value is the universal equalization coefficient for the plurality of signal lanes, wherein the indication indicates that the receiver is failing when the particular compensation value is also the compensation value that is specific to the particular signal lane.
12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising: determining, by the control module, whether or not the particular compensation value is a compensation value that is specific to a particular one of the signal lanes when the particular compensation value is not the universal compensation value for the plurality of signal lanes, wherein the indication indicates that the receiver may fail when the particular compensation value is also the compensation value that is specific to the particular signal lane.
13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of equalization modules for each signal lane includes a Decision Feedback Equalization (DFE) module.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein, when a compensation value for the DFE module is above a predetermined boundary for the DFE module, the method further comprises: providing, by the control module, the indication to indicate that a channel associated with the signal lane is experiencing excessive reflections.
15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of equalization modules for each signal lane includes a Continuous Time Linear Equalization (CTLE) module.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein, when a compensation value for the CTLE module is above a predetermined boundary for the CTLE module, the method further comprises: providing, by the control module, the indication to indicate that a channel associated with the signal lane is experiencing a loss of signal.
17. A serial communication channel system, comprising: a transmitter; and a receiver including a plurality of signal lanes each to receive a data bit stream from the transmitter, and each signal lane including a plurality of equalization modules each configurable to provide a selectable compensation value to the data bit stream received by the associated signal lane, wherein each selectable compensation value represents an equalization coefficient for the associated equalization module; and a control module configured to: perform on each signal lane a plurality of back channel adaptations on an associated data bit stream to achieve a target bit error rate for the associated signal lane, each back channel adaptation being associated with a set of compensation values of the equalization modules; determine for each signal lane a most common set of compensation values derived from the performance of the back channel adaptations; determine for each selectable compensation value of the most common set of compensation values, whether or not a particular compensation value is within a predetermined boundary for that selectable compensation value; and provide an indication when the particular compensation value of the most common set of compensation values is not within the predetermined boundary for the particular compensation value.
18. The serial communication channel system of claim 17 , wherein the control module is further configured to; determine whether or not the particular compensation value is a universal equalization coefficient for the plurality of signal lanes.
19. The serial communication channel system of claim 18 , wherein the control module is further configured to: determine whether or not the particular compensation value is also a compensation value that is specific to a particular one of the signal lanes when the particular compensation value is the universal equalization coefficient for the plurality of signal lanes, wherein the indication indicates that the receiver is failing when the particular compensation value is also the compensation value that is specific to the particular signal lane.
20. The serial communication channel system of claim 18 , wherein the control module is further configured to: determine whether or not the particular compensation value is a compensation value that is specific to a particular one of the signal lanes when the particular compensation value is not the universal compensation value for the plurality of signal lanes, wherein the indication indicates that the receiver may fail when the particular compensation value is also the compensation value that is specific to the particular signal lane.
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April 16, 2019
August 4, 2020
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